Moon and Stars
by nudgenudgewinkwink
Summary: Ignis has only one dream. A dream that's haunted him since as long as he can remember. His dream will led him to a stark truth about the nature of the Starscourge and the Astrals themselves...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Dreams**

It was always the same dream, one that the gods had blessed him with since as long as he could remember.

The pale angel with wings of alabaster and long golden hair caught in braids who stared at him with a pitiable and sorrowful look that marred her otherwise perfect face. She would reach out to him with a thin slight hand pulsing with light.

"Moon and stars..." she would breathe in a voice so familiar that his knees would quake and his heart soared as though he'd never experienced love before. Then he would awaken with a feeling of profound loss that matched in scale the love he'd known when she'd spoken to him with such soft words.

Ignis Scientia was not a man given to overly displaying emotion but when he dreamed of that moment he wished more than anything to see it through to its conclusion.

At one time when much younger he had thought perhaps that Bahamut or another of astrals were showing him the Oracle herself as some test or warning but that idea was soon dispelled upon seeing the Lady Lunafreya's image. She was beautiful to be sure, and now, thanks to the machinations of Niflheim, would be an exceedingly fair Queen of Insomnia and bride to Noctis. But she wasn't the angel he dreamed of with eyes of such a pained blue.

He often wondered what made her so sad, why she reached out to him... why the dream would never let him finally reach that hand and try to take that pain from her. It was only a dream he would often remind himself. A symptom of an active and under utilized mind. He would merely have to devote himself more to his duty as advisor.

* * *

On this particular morning, Ignis lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling while he waited for that sense of loss to dissipate. Today was the day. Prince Noctis would be leaving Insomnia and his father behind. Altissia awaited and so did his marriage.

Ignis glanced at his watch. It was time he arose. The sun was not even hinted at yet in the sky but he in particular needed to be moving. So much had to be organized. Breakfast for his still sleeping companions, finances for the journey ahead and of course finalizing their route.

As much as Ignis had tried, Noctis was just not interested in the finer details of being a monarch. That was Ignis's duty. He'd known ever since his uncle had passed him to King Regis that he was now bound to keep Insomnia foremost in his thoughts.

Even though he had initial doubts about his ability to guide the young Prince on his path, Noctis by his very nature had assuaged them. He would be a fine king one day and Ignis would see to it that under Noctis's rule there would never be a crisis unprepared for or unstoppable.

* * *

"Can't believe it's really here..." Prompto sighed as Ignis drove the Regalia through the final checkpoint before they left Insomnia proper.

"Yeah," Noctis mumbled in reply with his attention more focused on the landscape that was finally starting to emerge as the last gate passed by. The conversation he had with his father on the steps of the Citadel weighed heavily on him.

"Bachelor days are nearly over," Gladio chuckled before finding his latest book and starting to read from where he'd left off. "All I can say is poor Lady Lunafreya. She's got her work cut out for herself with you."

"What the hell does that mean?!"

"You heard me. But I guess being the Oracle will have prepared her for dealing with all kinds of people, especially stubborn, demanding, and childish princes."

Ignis glanced in the rear-view mirror and spotted Noctis about to open his mouth to retort to the smirking Gladio when the prince clearly thought better of it. The scowl on his face spoke volumes but he remained silent.

Ignis pondered for the briefest of moments what he could say to give ease to Noctis while allowing Gladio his fun when his vision contorted.

He could distantly hear the shouts of his friends as the Regalia dangerously swerved. Ignis hit the brakes hard while his eyes burned and brain screamed.

He stumbled free from the car and blindly rushed a short distance off the road and into dirt.

* * *

A cacophony of sound enveloped him, cancelling his friends anxious voices calling out in concern and fear.

"Aesir of old, though thou must learn the path anew; aid shall be yours while my covenant remains true. Thou hast done this before. Thou would follow the cycle again. Nothing would change. Such I have seen through both Thought and Memory."

The voice boomed so loud that his eardrums screamed in pain.

"The old king will die. The young king will die. The world will rot. The world will be saved."

Ignis really thought he was going die himself at this stage. The pain was so intense that he was doubled over on his knees and screaming while he felt blood pouring from his nose.

"The first sin would go unpunished and the star will scream because of its scourge. Mere children left, bringing ruin and damnation. Hear me, Moon and stars! Return to the Father. Return and tarry no longer on this fool's errand for the city is where the heart and the path least trodden lies. Such is the will of Atrith and Vofuth, of Fjolnir and Fjolsvith... the will of Odin, the All-Father."

* * *

When Ignis could finally and blearily open his eyes, they immediately focused on a distant pair of... dogs? He vaguely remembered seeing at least the black one in the palace visiting Noctis. The white version he had never laid eyes on before. They stared at him intently as though they knew the voice that had spoken to Ignis before both turned and headed towards Insomnia.

He finally became aware of his friends around him.

"Ignis?!" Noctis sounded desperate as he shook his friend by the shoulder.

"We need to go back."

"What?"

Ignis sat up and wipe away with a handkerchief the blood that stained his face. "We have to go back. To Insomnia. Something's coming."

"We need to go back to get you checked out at the nearest hospital is what you mean," was Gladio's reply.

Ignis had no strength left to argue. They were going the way that the voice demanded. The way that... Odin had commanded.

"The All-father?" he mumbled to himself as Noct and Prompto helped him to the car.

"What did he say?" Gladio barked as he took control of the Regalia.

Prompto gushed, "Something about the All-Father. Guys, there's something really not right here!"

"And that's why we're turning back," Noctis replied dryly as he sat in the back seat with the now unconscious Ignis. The Regalia was rapidly spun around and Gladio gunned it back down the road they'd came only minutes before.

* * *

Their patient didn't regain consciousness as they passed back into the city and to the nearest clinic. A light rain started to fall as they carried him inside, none noticing the two dogs who sat and patiently watched.

A crack of thunder echoed across the sky, a command given to the dogs by a master unseen. Pryna and Umbra glanced at each other before they parted ways.

Pryna stood, shook her coat free of as much water as possible before starting off through the city with sights set on the Citadel. Umbra sat and waited.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Ardyn  
**

"Noct... could you stop pacing? You're actually somehow making the tension worse."

Gladio had watched his charge wear almost a hole into the tiled floor of the clinic waiting room for an hour while Ignis was in another room being reviewed.

King Regis by now knew they are back in the city and hadn't given any indication of whether they should return to the Citadel or if he would visit them.

Not that Noctis cared. His focus was on his friend being looked over. Ignis had always just been there. Ever since they'd first met, Noctis had come to rely on him more than any of the others.

Oh sure, he would laugh with Prompto and be shielded by Gladio when he wasn't teasing him. But Ignis... Ignis was his confidante. Whatever was said to Ignis never went anywhere. In Noctis's world, Ignis was the stalwart. The pillar holding it all up and now he was...

The prince stopped and finally listened to his sworn shield, sinking down on a seat to wait for the answer from the medical staff.

* * *

"You're fine. Physically at least."

The old consultant with wispy grey hair and stubble peered at the scans of Ignis's brain and pointed to various sections.

"You have some structurally anomalies here," he added with a flourishing gesture towards part of Ignis's brain, "but nothing that should cause what you described as happening."

The doctor turned his piercing on Ignis. "Young man... are you on any medication? Prescribed or otherwise?"

Ignis paled with indignation. "No."

"I see here that your uncle had you seeing a psychiatrist from a young age."

"That is unrelated to the situation at hand."

"I don't believe it is."

Ignis slipped off the medical trolley and adjusted his clothes. "Are we done?"

The older doctor sighed. "I can't hold you."

Ignis gave a polite nod and gave his thanks, keeping his burning anger at the doctor's insinuation internal. It would not do to cause a scene.

* * *

"Ignis!"

Ignis had just enough time to adjust his glasses when he was bombarded by his companions. They all looked so... worried.

"The physician has cleared me. We should consider our next steps."

"Yo!" Prompto barked. "You don't get out of it that easily! What happened?"

"There was nothing on the scan. He could only release me from his charge."

Gladio glared at him, seeing clearly that Ignis was hiding something. "Well," he finally rumbled. "You best take it easy. No point going back on the road this late. Let's head back to the King."

"Good idea. I should talk to my dad," Noctis added before he grabbed Ignis's arm and gave it a squeeze. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Thank you, Noct. Let us set out. I'm certain your father would wish to see you as soon as possible."

* * *

Ardyn wandered the grove in silence.

He hadn't been back here in quite a long while but it was an unchanged as the great city it sat within along with its sole inhabitant.

Her voice had called to him after two decades of nothing and he wished eagerly to relay to her all that he had accomplished in the years apart. She would not approve, that he knew already.

"I am here, sweet Sigrün. It's been too long since you last let me come to your side. There's so much I must tell you. My plan, the one I spoke of so often, is nearly complete!"

He heard the clanking chains, the drag of them across a distant floor, the slow flutter of wings...

"Ardyn... my dear friend."

He couldn't stop the smile as he heard her call him by name.

"I would have wished you peace and happiness. But instead you surge forward to your doom. I had hoped that we could talk and you would see the righteousness of my words on this matter."

Ardyn laughed. "I fear it's too late. The Astrals have set their pawn on his path as I have planned."

He could just about see her now, the figure slowly coming towards him from a darkened corridor with chains dragging after.

"I... I know the task ahead of you. Your revenge on your brother's family will be complete. But they... they will live on. False gods to a world left blind. The scourge will not stop. You and I know this. Ardyn... you were a hero once. You are still in your heart. Etro remains silent on her dead throne with heart removed. Her Lord husband is returning from his wanderings. When he does, his anger will consume the world."

Ardyn stepped forward, catching the now closer Sigrün as she stumbled from weakness.

"You are still so beautiful. As you were when you saved me centuries ago," he mumbled.

Sigrün's deep blue eyes were weary and her back hunched under the weight of her chains. Her wings, once the colour of alabaster, were dusty and grimed at the edges. But Ardyn could still see the strength in her soul.

"These chains are too heavy for you," he added quietly. "It's my fault."

"No. I took them on willingly. The same as the task my King had given me long before you. If I had not, the Astrals would have slaughtered you and for what crime? For doing as they bid? Etro is waiting for you, Ardyn. Only she can stop the scourge. Only she can give you peace. This revenge of yours will not make things better."

* * *

Ardyn helped Sigrün sit on the ground before he took the spot beside her. "I've disappointed you."

Sigrün laughed softly. "No, Ardyn. I merely pray to the Gods that our sins will be forgiven. I've... been dreaming of him once more."

"Really?"

"The first time in so long. I know what it means. The All-Father is returning and he is calling for his covenant to be upheld."

Ardyn blinked. "Your people are dead, Sigrün."

"My people are lost. There's a difference. Odin the wanderer is coming home to a dead wife and the Aesir he loved dearly gone. The twin thrones stand empty. The Sun has become a dragon and the Moon and Stars lost to us. I fear he will end this world."

Ardyn sighed heavily. "And what would you have me do, my dear friend? My only friend left in this world?"

Sigrün rested her head gently on his arm. "Bring me Etros's heart. Let me at least have that. When Odin arrives, I will bid him welcome in the customs of old and make a plea that he is honor-bound to listen to."

Ardyn pondered her words carefully. "There's to be a party in Insomnia which I must attend. The Emperor believes himself in control. It's pitiful."

He turned and gently pressed a kiss on Sigrün's forehead. "For our long friendship, I will bring it to you as you asked. But I will not be discouraged from my revenge. Not now when I am so close."

"I know. I merely wish that I didn't have to lose all those I hold dear in my heart."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Regis**

The king stared at him.

Ignis in return avoided direct eye contact, unsure as to why he was being so intently scrutinized.

Oh he knew intellectually it was likely due to the seizure he had while taking Noctis from the city and the cause of their return to Insomnia. Perhaps he pondered on Ignis's continued suitability for the role Regis had given him. That was the logical answer he mentally noted but still... it seemed so much more.

"I see," Regis finally replied to Noctis's hurried explanation of what had happened. "You may stay for the night and leave first thing in the morning. A day's delay should not be too much trouble. You will have plenty of time to reach Altissa."

"My lord," Ignis interrupted, blurting it without any control. "I believe we should remain for a few days more. Or at least, I should remain."

His fellow Crownguards and Noctis himself was stumped at Ignis's unusually forward behavior in front of Regis.

"Oh? And why so?" Regis replied, his voice booming in the throne room.

"Gladio and Prompto are more than capable of protecting Prince Noctis. However I fear further attacks of the nature that stopped us from progressing. I am a liability to them until the origin of my malady is discovered."

Regis stood up awkwardly from his throne, waving away the concerns of his Councillors at his weakened state, and slowly walked down to the steps to stand before the small group.

"I agree," Regis finally said resolutely. "You were always an unknown in this, Ignis Scientia. One I fear is now becoming all too clear."

Ignis blinked, confusion written across his face. "My lord?"

"Noctis, you will depart immediately in the morning. Ignis... you will remain with me at my side. Return to the Citadel in the morning for your assignment. You are all dismissed."

* * *

"What are you thinking, Iggy?!" Gladio snarled once the vast doors of the throne room sealed behind them.

"Merely admitting the truth. Something is very wrong with me," Ignis replied in a rare moment of fragility with his friends who in turn were stunned. "I just know that I have to stay here. For Noctis's protection."

"What did my dad mean, Ignis? That you are an unknown?"

Ignis turned his attention down to the shorter Noctis. "I don't know. I'm as confused by this as you are. I hope my extended time in Insomnia will allow me to query King Regis."

Noctis's face was unusually scrunched up in a frown and it took several minutes before Ignis realized why. He was worried.

"Fear not, Prince Noctis. I'm-"

Ignis suddenly stopped, his brain erupting in pain followed shortly by his right arm feeling like it was on fire from his shoulder to the wrist.

The voice roared in his mind once more as his physical body hit the floor writhing in pain in front of his stunned friends.

"Moon and Stars... the heart... _her heart_. Thieves! They stole it from her. It's so close now... Return it from whence it came. Fulfill your oath to me or all will know my wrath upon my return."

Ignis, his brain feeling as though it was melting, screamed out, "When?!"

"When the light wanes and the star fades from sight," was the reply. "When the thieves rouse themselves from slumber to find only my sword where safety had beckoned. Wake up, Moon-and-Stars. Wake up!"

The pain he felt was forgotten as Iggy's mind was suddenly enveloped fully. He slipped onto his back with eyes fully dilated and yet unseeing. Ignis became frighteningly still, breathing low and steady while his eyes twitched at something only he could see.

"Iggy! Come on! Answer me!" Noctis shouted as they all attempted to both wake him up and also get him onto his feet. But their friend was unresponsive.  
He started to mumble in a tongue they did not understand, words and syllables that rolled out of his mouth effortless but fell on ears that were deaf to their meaning.

Gladio attempted to wake him again, violently shaking the prone Ignis as they all became aware they were gaining a small crowd that milled around them as those nearby came to see if they could help. The ruckus was loud enough that even King Regis emerged from the throne room with his Councillors.

"What is he saying?" Prompto muttered, trying to be inconspicuous in the presence of the Councillors.

* * *

"I know."

The trio looked up at the new arrivals to the Citadel, fresh from the road too it appeared after they glanced at their weary faces.

"Luna..." Noctis whispered reverently as the Oracle quickly left the safety of her protectors and joined them.

"Lady Lunafreya, what is he saying?" Gladio ventured after she had listened intently to Ignis's ramblings while Regis quickly took a firm hand on Noctis and gently pulled him back from where Iggy lay.

"He's speaking their tongue."

"Whose?"

"The Six. He's... he's calling out for someone. He's so sad. Heartbroken even. He's calling for her to find him. To come back to him."

Noctis, finally freeing himself of his father's grasp, went to Luna's side eagerly. "Who? Who is he calling?"

Luna looked at Noctis with eyes of the brightest blue he had ever seen. For a moment he couldn't breathe at the sight of her knelt before him with gaze firmly locked on his face.

"Sigrün. He's calling for someone called Sigrün"

* * *

Ignis didn't wake. The rambling words faded, his wide unseeing eyes closed, and Ignis Scientia fell into a deep slumber.  
They had quickly taken him to the nearest medical facility, rushing past even the arriving Imperial party with barely even a glance. The only brief stall had been Noctis who'd been caught between leaving Luna after only just meeting her again and Ignis. He'd quickly told her that he'd be back as soon as possible before bolting after the others.

"I'm really worried, Noct," Prompto mumbled as they sat in the small hallway outside the medical ward. "I don't think we should go tomorrow. Not with Iggy... well, like this."

"Don't worry. We're not going anywhere. Luna's here. We've got time now."

Gladio gently shoved the prince forward. "Speaking of Lady Lunafreya, you better go find her. I'm gonna stay here for a bit and find out about Iggy. I'll ring you once I know."

"I'm not leaving-" Noctis started to reply when Gladio shoved him again.

"I said go and find your bride. Don't think that you've fooled me, kid. I saw how you looked at her."

"But... Iggy..."

"Will be fine. Get outta here."


End file.
